What Controls The Heart Rate In The Human Body

Centre Crush

The heart's electrical system

The atria and ventricles work together, alternately contracting and relaxing to pump blood through your heart. The electrical arrangement of your heart is the ability source that makes this possible.

Your heartbeat is triggered by electrical impulses that travel down a special pathway through your heart:

SA node (sinoatrial node) – known as the heart's natural pacemaker. The impulse starts in a small bundle of specialized cells located in the correct atrium, called the SA node. The electric activity spreads through the walls of the atria and causes them to contract. This forces blood into the ventricles. The SA node sets the rate and rhythm of your heartbeat. Normal heart rhythm is often called normal sinus rhythm because the SA (sinus) node fires regularly.
AV node (atrioventricular node). The AV node is a cluster of cells in the center of the heart between the atria and ventricles, and acts similar a gate that slows the electrical betoken before it enters the ventricles. This delay gives the atria fourth dimension to contract earlier the ventricles do.
His-Purkinje Network. This pathway of fibers sends the impulse to the muscular walls of the ventricles and causes them to contract. This forces blood out of the heart to the lungs and body.
The SA node fires some other impulse and the cycle begins again.

At rest, a normal heart beats around 50 to 99 times a minute. Exercise, emotions, fever and some medications tin cause your center to beat faster, sometimes to well over 100 beats per minute.

How fast does the normal heart beat?

How fast the heart beats depends on the torso'south demand for oxygen-rich blood. At remainder, the SA node causes your center to beat about l to 100 times each minute. During activity or excitement, your body needs more oxygen-rich blood; the eye rate rises to well over 100 beats per minute.

Medications and some medical atmospheric condition may impact how fast your heart-rate is at residuum and with exercise.

How do yous know how fast your heart is beating?

You can tell how fast your centre is beating (your heart charge per unit) by feeling your pulse. Your eye-charge per unit is the corporeality of times your heart beats in one minute.

You volition demand a sentry with a second hand.

Place your index and heart finger of your hand on the inner wrist of the other arm, just below the base of operations of the pollex.

You should experience a tapping or pulsing against your fingers.

Count the number of taps y'all feel in 10 seconds.

Multiply that number by 6 to observe out your heart-rate for one minute:

Pulse in 10 seconds x six = \__ beats per minute (your eye-charge per unit)

When feeling your pulse, yous can also tell if your heart rhythm is regular or non.

Learn about abnormal heart rhythms
Print out a diagram of the Electrical System of the Heart

Normal Eye Shell

1. The SA node sets the rate and rhythm of your heartbeat.

2. The SA node fires an impulse.

two. The SA node fires an impulse. The impulse spreads through the walls of the correct and left atria, causing them to contract. This forces blood into the ventricles.

3. The impulse travels to the AV node.

3. The impulse travels to the AV node. Here, the impulse slows for a moment before going on to the ventricles.

4. The impulse travels through a pathway of fibers called the HIS-Purkinje network.

4. The impulse travels through a pathway of fibers called the His-Purkinje network. This network sends the impulse into the ventricles and causes them to contract. This forces blood out of the heart to the lungs and trunk.

5. The SA node fires another impulse.

5. The SA node fires another impulse. The bicycle begins over again.